Page 10 - Nadide Times 9

APRIL 2023 9th EDITION

KOCAELI UNDERSTANDS THE

EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS BEST

Ezgi YİĞİT (7th Hunters)

179 VEHICLES AND 550 STAFF TEAMS WITNESSED 62 MIRACLES
FROM THE METROPOLITAN The Metropolitan Fire Brigade and teams were the
heroes of the day. The bold workers cleaned the
It was the year 1999, the month was August, the
day was Monday the 17th and the time was exactly debris. Their work included listening to the sounds
3.02. A strong earthquake hit Kocaeli and its coming from the wreckage with acoustic devices.
surroundings. About nineteen thousand people They intervened immediately and participated in the
died and fifty thousand people were injured. search and rescue efforts without taking a break.
Two-hundred eighty-five houses and forty-two Although days have passed since the earthquake,
thousand work places were demolished. So, we no one wanted to stop. Volunteers were passionate
can put ourselves in the shoes of the victims of to rescue even just one more person. Even at the
Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Hatay, Adıyaman, etc. 86th and 92nd hours in the earthquake zone, the
No one understands them better than us. teams managed to take out the earthquake victims
from the rubble. Metropolitan teams have brought 62
earthquake victims out of the rubble in Hatay,
So, Kocaeli was one of the first cities to arrive at
the earthquake zone to assist, support and help Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş alive.
wherever needed. Earthquake survivors later
commented that “Wherever we look, we see On the other hand, thousands of Kocaeli residents,
Kocaeli with the fire department, search and rescue young and old, have continued to go to announced
teams, and food distribution. There is Kocaeli schools or public buildings like Carrefour to prepare
everywhere, you are there… Allah bless you." parcels and bags full of items that are donated. So
far, 220 trucks have set off from the Aid Center to
the earthquake zone. We all are proud of our mayor,
As soon as the Metropolitan teams arrived in the
district with Mayor Büyükakın, they first set up giant governor, workers of Kocaeli Metropolitan City and
disaster tents to prevent earthquake victims from volunteers. We hope that it won’t happen again.
being affected by the cold weather. Then heaters
were placed in the tents, soups were cooked and
served.

All of the work is done in line with AFAD and
according to the needs reported by AFAD. In total
179 vehicles and 550 personnel of the Kocaeli
Metropolitan worked in the earthquake zone with
search and rescue, logistics, food distribution,
disaster tent, fire extinguishing and water
reinforcement in necessary areas and most of them
are still continuing their work.